Dance With Me
by MyFallenAngel
Summary: [ NejiTen ] Convincing the Hyuuga prodigy to go to the dance is very hard, but she is determined to win. Only... can she?
1. Chapter 1

**Apply disclaimers standard. Please.**

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**Dance With Me**

_**Dedicated to Naruto fans all over the world, including myself.**_

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**Part One: Girls' Talk**

**By MyFallenAngel**

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"Hey, have you heard about the dance?" Tenten asked, taking out an invitation from her bag and waving it on the empty air.

It was a sunny afternoon, and the girls were just having fun in Sakura's room, talking about... things, of course.

Sakura nodded as she sipped her jasmine tea. "Yes, of course!" She rolled her eyes. She was one of the best gossipers in Konoha, hearing just about this dance was so easy for her.

"What dance is this?" Ino asked, demandingly. She had been too preoccupied by the flower shop that she had forgotten the ways to gossip… not really, though. Hinata nodded, noting that she also didn't know.

Tenten shoved the invitation to their faces, while Sakura happily took the chance to reply, "It's a dance for all the jounins." She shrugged, but there was a twinkle in her green eyes, "But it's gonna be oh-so-fun! There will be food, drinks... such things."

Ino's eyes sparkled also. "And I bet the top notch is the dance!" She said, pointing to Sakura's nose.

Sakura grinned at her. "Of course. That's the main point, duh!"

Hinata nodded shyly, agreeing as she noticed how Tenten was silent. She tugged on her best friend's shirt and asked her, rather timidly, "Are you going to ask Neji-niisan, Tenten-chan?"

At the mention of his name, Tenten flinched. Ino and Sakura crowded over, looking at her curiously, their face bright and excited while Hinata wondered what she had just done wrong.

Seeing the guilty expression on Hinata's face, Tenten quickly came to the rescue of the timid girl. She put her arm comfortingly around Hinata's shoulder and gave her a smile. "Maybe not, Hinata." She replied quietly, and turned to the girls, "How about you guys?"

"I don't know." Sakura replied, "Asking them seems so... aggressive. Whoa."

"You're always aggressive, forehead-girl." Ino cut her out, her eyes twinkling gleefully, "But aside from that, do you think they will come? To the dance, I mean?" She shrugged a little, "I don't think Shikamaru will. He will just say that this is too troublesome."

Hinata nodded. "I-I don't know that Naruto-kun will come or not too..."

Tenten smiled to the girls. Being the oldest one, at times like this, she felt like encouraging them. "Hey, you're just thinking the negatives." She pointed out cheerfully, "I'm quite sure they will come!"

"Can you say the same about Neji, Tenten?" Sakura chirped in, bringing the light expression on the weapon mistress' face to darken again. She shook her head, hiding her disappointment cleverly. Teaming with Neji for almost eight years already, she was clearly used to hiding her emotions as well. He had affected her in that way.

Ino's eyes gleamed again. "Hey, how about we make it this way?" She asked suddenly, drawing attention to her, "We make a dare between us all."

"What dare?" Sakura eyed her best friend suspiciously. Knowing Ino, it will not be an easy dare.

Hinata also looked at Ino curiously, while Tenten kept silent.

"He should ask you to the dance!" Ino said happily, explaining the dare as it was a so-very-easy-and-lucky thing rather than deadly. "I mean, Sasuke-kun should ask Sakura, Naruto should ask Hinata, Neji should ask you, Tenten, and Shikamaru should ask me! This will make it fun, right?"

"I don't even know whether I will be going or not." Tenten said, sighing as she leaned on Sakura's bed. "Really, there's no point going too."

"Tsunade-sama will be there." Sakura said quickly, making the kunoichi a little hesitant. She turned to Ino, "But it will not be easy, Ino. You know Sasuke-kun."

"And you know Shikamaru." Ino rolled her eyes, "It's not easy for any of us. It's not even guaranteed that they will ask _us_ and not other girls. They're not our boyfriends, for heaven's sake. Naruto probably wouldn't even know that there is a dance next week. Shikamaru, as I said, would think it is too troublesome. Sasuke-kun doesn't like dances, and Neji..."

"He doesn't like dancing, all right." Tenten cut her out. "Ino, I'm out of this. He is harder even than that Uchiha guy. How am I going to bail him? Neji will never fall for the bait."

"T-Tenten-chan is right." Hinata said, "Neji-niisan is..." She paused and gazed at Tenten. The weapon kunoichi smiled gratefully at her and turned to Ino, who was now smiling mischievously at her. "You're afraid to lose, aren't you?" Ino asked, baiting Tenten carefully and cleverly. One thing she knew about Tenten: she didn't like to lose. Not even in a dare.

"I'm not." Tenten said quickly.

"Oh, then why are you getting out?" Sakura helped, knowing Ino's plan. If they do this right, Tenten will fall. It's guaranteed. "Afraid, Tenten?"

"No." Tenten shook her head. "Listen, bailing me wouldn't have a use."

"We're not." chorused Ino and Sakura as they exchanged glances with each other. This time they shot a pleading look, and pleaded, "Please, Tenten? It wouldn't be fun if you don't come."

"If I have a reason to come, I will." Tenten said again.

"B-but maybe you could try asking Neji-niisan, Tenten-chan..." Hinata interrupted thoughtfully, "Y-yesterday I saw Hanabi teasing him about the dance... he should know about it..."

"... I know." Tenten shrugged, "Lee has been mentioning it all week too, in front of him. He knows, but he didn't ask me. End of discussion."

"Not really." Sakura said, smiling, "There are still three days before the dance, counting today. If they asked us before the dance, then we win the dare."

"All of us." Ino added. "There's no taxes, no consequences. Just a dare. It wouldn't hurt, right?" She eyed Tenten, "Please?"

Tenten groaned. "No." She said, holding to her determination. "You know Neji."

"No, I don't know him." Ino frowned. "I haven't even talk to him yet."

"Ah, but you know how he is." Tenten tried again.

"I don't know too." Sakura chimed happily, "All we heard are the infos from you."

Tenten frowned. "Don't try me."

"We're not." chorused Sakura and Ino cheerfully. "Tenten, there's no consequences." Sakura added, "All we need is to make them ask us, and we'll be happy. It's just that, nothing else. If he doesn't ask you, then whatever."

"Really..." Tenten questioned suspiciously.

"Yes." Ino said hastily. "I promise." She added.

"Then fine." The weapon mistress nodded, although she did looked a little hesitant. "I'm in."

"Yay!" Sakura grinned happily. She put a hand around Tenten's neck. "If you're in, I'm too. And Ino is in, of course." She eyed Hinata, "Hinata?"

Hinata blushed shyly.

"Hinata?" Tenten asked.

Ino eyed her with puppy-eyes.

"Okay." Hinata whispered timidly.

Ino grinned again. _This will be fun_, she thought.

--

"You're late." Neji smirked.

Tenten knelt on her knees, exhausted. She had ran all the way from Sakura's house, which was at the corner of Konoha, to her training ground, which was the other corner of Konoha, and she was out of breath. "So-rry..." was all she could muster.

"... Let's train." He said, not giving her time to rest.

Tenten breathed and forced her feet to stand up, even though feebly. When Lee passed, she stumbled on him, and the green beast of Konoha helped her to get up again. "Tenten!" He greeted, like nothing was wrong. "Have you found a partner for the dance?"

She shook her head, now breathing quite regularly, "Not yet, Lee."

"I could be your partner!" Lee offered happily, but Tenten shook her head again. "I'm sorry." She said apologetically, although she knew that Lee was only joking. "I have someone in mind."

"It's okay!" Lee chirped, still cheerful. "Me too, Tenten."

She grinned at him and felt the piercing glare on her back from Neji. "I have to go now, Lee. Really." She whispered at him. "Good luck for your date."

Lee grinned back. "Okay. You too! Hope the springtime of your youth is blooming greatly and..."

"Yes, yes." Tenten cut him as she waved her hand and went to Neji. He immediately shaped into a familiar stance. It was a cue for Tenten to start her weapon throwing at him. She never succeeds, really. His 'perfect defense' was really perfect.

They started their spar match, and ended it about one hour after that. Tenten was, as usual, very exhausted, her body all sweaty and she was out of breath, while Neji was, as usual too, had not dropped a single sweat. At all.

"G-good match, Neji..." Tenten breathed feebly, feeling numb on her feet. She immediately knelt down and massaged them gently. She was forced to use the Twin Rising Dragon jutsu around six times today. Neji was being especially harsh - maybe because she was late.

"Neji…" She stated as she was kneeling down, out of breath. She looked up at him; hope perking up in her heart. He stared back at her, arching his eyebrows as he mustered a look that meant 'if-you're-going-to-disturb-the-training-just-do-it-next-time-Tenten'.

"What?" Neji asked stiffly. She stood up and gulped. She was not mentally ready to ask him. Really. Especially not when he's glaring piercingly at her.

"Nothing." She said, avoiding eye contact with the Byakugan user. "Well, Neji. Look at the time. I need to go home... and fetch myself dinner. I'm hungry. Really."

"... Fine." He agreed. "I'll walk you home."

"No need." Tenten coughed, but rejecting an invitation -more likely an order- from Hyuuga Neji had its own cost.

"Then come earlier tomorrow for training." He said quietly, coolly, casually, like the normal Hyuuga Neji, "We have some things to talk about."

_Earlier?_ Tenten almost screamed. "What time?" She forced herself to ask.

"Four."

_Four!_ Tenten almost screamed again. She shut her mouth quickly and nodded quietly. If she opened it one bit, there's a possibility that she will protest, and protesting his idea after rejecting him wasn't a good idea at all.

_Neji is crazy about training_, she decided, more to comfort herself, as she chose to fade away from the grounds. _He trains from four to eight, then have breakfast, then from nine to twelve, then lunch, then from one to seven, then have dinner, and finally from seven to nine. Then he sleeps. His days are like devoted for training..._ She shrugged_, I wonder whether Hiashi-sama is against his insane schedule or not._

Then again, he was Hyuuga Neji.

No one could really resist him.

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Reviews!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not owning Naruto and never will.**

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Part Two: Training 

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Sakura's throat felt soar as she tried to open her mouth. Sasuke was arching his eyebrows, looking quizzically at her actions. Whatever she was thinking, it had better be worthwhile. Or else. She had disturbed his personal private training with the trees, and he did not like it.

"Sasuke-kun." The pink headed kunoichi started again, a little nervous.

Sasuke arched his eyebrows at her again. Another silence overwhelmed them, and finally Sasuke had had enough. "Listen, Sakura." He began, "I don't have all day."

"... Yes." She breathed feebly. "There's a dance next week... and I want to know..." She gulped once more and gazed into his dark eyes, "Are you..?"

Her question was never finished, because Sasuke had already taken over. A smile that you can barely call a smile appeared on his lips. "Will you go with me, Sakura?" He asked casually, as if he was saying, "Today is sunny."

Sakura was stunned. "With me?" She asked him, her eyes nearly bulging out of its sockets because of her shockness.

He nodded easily. After all, it was easier to go with her than to go with one of his fan girls. They were busy, noisy, and lousy. Sakura too was busy, noisy and lousy, but he had gotten used to her, after all this years. It had been practically seven years after their team was built. And yet asking her first was the easiest way to get rid of her quickly, quietly.

He raised his eyebrows to her silent reaction, "Is that a no?"

"No, no!" Sakura quickly said happily, "Of course I'll go with you, Sasuke-kun!"

The Uchiha prodigy shifted in his seat. "Fine, then. At five PM we will meet in front of the hall."

Sakura stared at the prodigy expectantly, half-wishing that he will offer to pick her up at her house, but seeing his now 'I-finished-talking' expression, she knew that it was almost impossible. She wiped off her expectant look, "Thanks." She said cheerfully, "Then I'll leave you training."

_That's better_, Sasuke thought. He nodded a little and concentrated on the trees more, Chidori appearing on his hand with enormous chakra.

--

"So, you succeeded." Ino pointed out, looking unhappy. She too had tried to bail Shikamaru out of his cage, but as usual the shadow user took no notice.

Sakura grinned triumphantly at the blonde. "Yes! I am soooo happy!" She claimed proudly, "I thought Sasuke-kun was the hardest, you know! But now I think that he is somewhat very easy! I just brought out the topic, and he asked me!"

Hinata smiled shyly. "I-I'm happy for you, Sakura-chan." She said.

Tenten grumbled as she leaned on her chair. "I wish Neji is like Sasuke." She muttered under her breath, knowing that her friends will hear her no matter what.

"You could try bringing the topic up too, Tenten." Sakura adviced, looking sympathetic. "Maybe he'll ask you too. It is easy for Sasuke-kun, so it'll probably be easy for Neji too."

"I wish!" Tenten rolled her eyes sarcastically. "He is not your Sasuke, for heaven's sake, Sakura. I have tried bringing that up, but he shot me down just with a look!" She gazed at Sakura, "You don't know Neji."

"I've said I don't." Sakura admitted easily, "But then, anything can happen. You may try that and may be lucky too. Just choose the best situation. A little romantically may help."

"I can't be romantic." The weapon kunoichi groaned, "He'll probably think I'm insane." She eyed her best friends, "Please, please, please remember that this is not Naruto we're talking about. It's Neji. Anyway, speaking about Naruto, how about you, Hinata? Anything new with your crush?"

The three turned their attention to the shy Hyuuga girl. She blushed feebly and gushed, "I have not meet Naruto-kun today..."

"He's in the Ichiraku ramen restaurant, if you want to know." Ino butted in and sighed, "I wish Shikamaru is as easy as Sasuke too! I thought of all people, you or Tenten would be the last to have this dare completed, Sakura. But it turns out that..."

"Yeah. I know." Sakura grinned in satisfaction. "You should try your best, Ino. Luckiness will come and get you."

"Maybe it's not partially luckiness." Tenten said, thinking out loud, "It may be that your Uchiha idol likes you too, Sakura."

The emerald-eyes kunoichi smiled, a little sadly, "I think not." She said, "I've showed so many signs, and he didn't even bulge." She sighed again, "Oh well. How's your day, Ino? We all had shared the results today. How about you?"

Ino waved her hand as she pouted. "I don't even want to speak about it." She said hoarsely.

Tenten's eyes widened. Could it be possible that someone had a worse day than her? "What happened?" She asked with little enthusiasm in her voice. She crawled over to Ino and sat next to her, drawing her ears closer.

"Should I really say this?" The blonde asked, still hoarsely. She didn't look excited at all, like she was when she was talking about the bet yesterday. Yeah, it was just yesterday, but it seems like... forever. When the other three nodded, she continued, "He didn't think he wants to come." She said faintly, "He says it is troublesome to come." She wailed, "You know Shikamaru."

"Indeed I do." Sakura agreed, "Well, better luck next time, girls." She gave an encouraging smile, but none of them were really encouraged.

Except... maybe, Hinata.

--

"Hinata-chan!" A certain blonde energetic boy happened to run in front of Hinata's house. It was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, of course. The Hyuuga girl gave a shy smile and a sly greeting, "He-hello, Naruto-kun... What are you doing here?"

Naruto grinned happily. "Shikamaru told me about the dance next week!" He informed.

Hinata felt her heart throbbed a little faster as she gave a little nod. She was trying to act calm with all her might, even when her heart was pumping like crazy. She couldn't stop herself giving hopeful looks to Naruto, which of course was too ignorant to notice it.

"Are you going, Hinata-chan?" The kyuubi boy asked.

Hinata smiled shyly. "I t-think I am, Naruto-kun..." She whispered as hope began perking in her heart.

"Good!" Naruto winked as he grabbed her hands and waved them enthusiastically, "Are you free? Or somehow has Kiba asked you out?"

"Ki-Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked, now feeling confused. What does Kiba have to do with all of this?

Naruto grinned, "Oh, nothing!" He said, "Then, I'll be going!" He swooshed off before Hinata can even return his over-quick words. Left alone in front of the Hyuuga gates, the pale-eyed girl felt confused, and a little taken aback.

_Kiba-kun?_

--

"Tenten, get up." Another certain Hyuuga said. "You have not been concentrating today. What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing." Tenten panted as she knelt. Ever since Ino brought the bet up, she had not been concentrating on her training hours, resulting a mad-but-still-cool-and-calm Hyuuga Neji. It was bugging her big-time. "Screw you, brain." She muttered under her breath as she stood up.

"What do you say?" He asked as he stared at her.

Tenten quickly shook her head. "Nothing." She mumbled, "Let's get it on, Neji."

He stepped backwards, still eyeing her suspiciously. He recognized that she was acting weird nowadays, and he was sure that she had something to tell him. Only he didn't want to bother about it. If she didn't want to tell him, that would be fine...

... If only he wasn't that curious.

Neji slapped himself mentally. Damn those thoughts for getting him while he was off-guard! He turned to Tenten, and quickly got himself into a defense stance - since he was helping her practice a certain jutsu she had developed some days ago.

She pranced elegantly at him, aiming and throwing weapons at him. He smirked and avoided the weapons cleverly. Tenten panted again as she steadied herself. This time, she shot him a determined look. "Neji," She stated.

Neji looked up and mustered a calm look as he eyed her quizzically.

And that's where she loses all of her determination. "Nothing." She covered up quickly and used a little effort in changing the topic. "By the way, you said that you have something to talk about yesterday... what is it?"

His gaze fixed on her as he tried to remember. And when the certain something had dawned to him, he said, "Let's go to the weapon store tomorrow."

"Weapon store?" Tenten repeated, to make sure that she was hearing the right thing. It was not often Neji asked her out for something, and when he did, it usually was not weapon stores, but... training somewhere else than their training grounds. "Tomorrow?"

He nodded casually.

"Why?" She asked.

"Stuffs." Neji replied, and Tenten knew that it was the closest she could get to an answer. She could get whatever answer it was tomorrow, if she complied, anyway.

So she nodded. "Okay."

--

Kiba groaned as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Shino eyed him, feeling a little annoyed of Kiba's actions. Now the Inuzuka boy was pacing in the living room happily, forgetting that it was Shino's living room he was practically making dirty.

"Kiba." Shino said.

And the shinobi groaned again as Akamaru leaped happily behind him, leaving puppy patches here and there.

"Kiba." Shino said again.

Kiba sighed heavily, Akamaru still following behind him. This time the boy proceeded to a desk, tumbling over it and crashing Shino's vase to the floor. Obliviously, Akamaru leaped to Kiba's side and stepped on the vase, crashing it into pieces.

That's when Shino couldn't take it anymore. "_Kiba_." He said, louder and the Inu shinobi gazed at his teammate, his look faraway as if he had just realized that Shino was there. "What, Shino? I'm thinking."

"... You broke my vase."

Kiba waved his hand and grinned, although his grin was not as happy as it usually was. "Don't worry about it, Shino!" He said, "I'll replace it later."

"It was worth a thousand millions yen, Kiba."

Kiba's grinned faded. "Maybe I'll just say sorry for it."

Shino waited.

Kiba also waited.

Shino waited again.

"What?" Kiba asked at last, breaking the silence.

"... You said you'd say sorry." Shino explained.

"Sorry." He said quickly as he paced around the room again, completely ignoring the fact that Shino was really, really annoyed by now. "Argh!"

"Why are you here?" Shino asked as he bent down and picked up the pieces of the vase carefully. He was not angry with Kiba - that vase looked ugly, anyway.

"I have to find a way to ask Hinata-chan." Kiba said, revealing his worries. Shino arched his eyebrows. "To what?"

"There's a dance some days after today." The Inu shinobi explained harshly, plunging himself to a chair hardly. Shino shook his head in disapproval as he did that, but Kiba continued anyway, "I want to ask Hinata-chan out for this date."

"..." Shino silenced. It was not often people went to Aburames for advices, and when they did, he just didn't know how to reply. "You should ask her." He said at last, barely advising Kiba.

"I know." Kiba replied.

"Then do it."

Kiba groaned, "But I don't want to do this!" He exclaimed unhappily, "I don't want to ask Hinata-chan, but... I do, too!"

Shino silenced again. "You don't want to, but you do." He repeated casually. "All the same, go ask her."

"I should not have go to the Ichiraku today." Kiba pouted sadly, "If I didn't, I won't meet Naruto and I won't get into this stupid situation."

The Aburame shook his head in disapproval.

"I need to ask Hinata-chan." Kiba said at last, mustering a determined expression on his face, "If not, Naruto will win the bet and I would have to treat him ten bowls of ramen of his choice! This is not good."

Shino shook his head again. "You're saying that you're just doing this for Naruto?"

"No. If I win, he will treat me ten bowls of ramen of my choice!" Kiba grinned with a dreamy look on his face, "That would be fun."

Shino sighed.

"Then, Shino, what should I do?"

"... Ask her."

"Hinata-chan likes Naruto, and she'll probably be very happy if he asks her out." Kiba explained the 'situation' that makes him somewhat 'depressed'. "I'm in between!"

Shino stayed silent for a while, and then he asked, "Guess what, Kiba?"

"What?"

"You're stupid."

Kiba groaned, "I know I am." He said miserably and turned to Shino. This time, he had an evil grin on his lips. "That's why I'm here, Shino."

_Uh-oh._

--

Err… Short chapter? I'm sorry. I have not much time to write back here… well, there's so much happening around. I'm doing a lot of catching up in school… uh… that explains the shorties, right? Sorry!

Reviews, please.

Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Naruto? Not mine.**

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Part Three: A Day With Him By MyFallenAngel 

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Tenten tied her second bun quickly as she ran to their training grounds. She was late for the scheduled meeting with Neji, and it was not going to do her any good. Then again, Neji may have given her a little lighter consequence... hopefully.

"You're late again." was the first thing he said when they fixed gaze.

Tenten suppressed an apologetic smile on her lips. "Sorry, I got held up at home. I had to do..." She shrugged, "Stuffs."

Neji eyed her once more. "You look different." He observed.

"I do?" Tenten asked, feeling a little confused. "What is?"

He shook his head casually, ignoring the small blue ribbon trailing around her buns. "Let's go."

"Okay." She followed him as he walked faster and faster - his usual 'I'm cool, I'm calm, I'm Hyuuga Neji' style of walking. She was used to it, and now it was easy to catch up with him. "What do you want to buy, anyway? I thought they supply us shurikens, makabishis and kunais whenever you need it."

"I want another weapon." He said simply, plainly.

Tenten nodded. In her mind images of 'another weapon' bulged in. It may be needles, daggers, katanas, javelins, swords... their pommels and blades differed in every way. As a weapon specialist, she felt that each weapon had its own uniqueness. She grinned. Neji wouldn't like using needles...

Would he?

--

Tenten gazed around the store. Hundreds of weapons were being attached to the walls - it was almost covered, you could almost not see the wallpaper behind. She smiled at the shiny blades - she loved them so much, really.

"What do you need?" The shopkeeper lunged forward to the cashier. Then he fixed his gaze on Tenten and immediately noticed the girl. "Oh, Tenten-chan! How are you?"

Tenten grinned back. "I'm very fine, Kazu-san." She replied. "How are you? How's Yuka-san doing?" Yuka was Kazu's wife - she was often sick, so Tenten hardly ever sees her nowadays.

"She's doing quite fine." Kazu smiled, "In fact, she is getting healthy. It was all thanks to you, Tenten-chan! If you didn't help us way back, she will not have survived!"

Tenten smiled in return, "I've just done what I can at that time, Kazu-san." She winked, "After all, both of you are almost like my parents."

"Thank you!" Kazu said appreciatively. He turned to Neji, who was observing a series of katanas on the wall, "And who is this fine gentleman here? Could you, by any chance, Tenten-chan's boyfriend?"

"Kazu-san!" The weapon kunoichi protested, and before Neji could even blink she had turned the subject to business, "Neji is looking for a weapon, Kazu-san. Any recommendations?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Kazu said as he observed Neji. "Good, fine hands. If I may suggest, double-bladed kunais may be good. They are sharp, thin and strong, and their price are reachable for anyone." He handed a double-bladed kunai to Neji, and his Byakugan flared up that right second. Kazu gasped, and the Hyuuga boy examined the blade quickly.

He gave a nod as an approval and held the kunai to Tenten. "What do you say?" He asked after he noticed something about it.

She looked a little taken aback, but she complied with Neji's question at once. She examined and held the kunai quickly, swinging it, cutting air. "This is fine." She said at last after a few moments, "But its blade is not pure metal. You have been putting something in it again, have you, Kazu-san?"

Kazu grinned. "I know your abilities haven't fade out, Tenten-chan!" he declared, "Indeed, it is a weapon for practicing only. This is the real one." He handed a double-bladed kunai again, and this time Tenten smiled as she swung it happily.

"Good." She said approvingly. "I like it."

"I'll get this." Neji interrupted, and Kazu nodded as he moved closer to the cashier table. After the 'business' was finished, they went out of the store and walked to the Ichiraku ramen store.

"Hey, I thought we're NOT using any cheating methods here!" A loud Naruto shouted, angriness hinted in his voice.

"You did NOT point that out! But ha! You ruined it, now we'll never get to Hinata-chan!" This time it was Kiba who shouted, also with angriness in his voice.

Tenten arched her eyebrows, feeling a little interested at the mentioning of Hinata's name. She felt Neji getting a little tense and quickly stared at him, where he stared back at empty space. She took it as an approval and entered the ramen shop.

"What has something to do with Hinata?" Tenten asked, appearing between Kiba and Naruto, shocking them to death.

"Nothing." Kiba and Naruto chorused.

Tenten frowned. "You're going to tell me." She commanded.

"No." Kiba and Naruto said once more.

The weapon kunoichi shrugged and looked around for backup, when Neji appeared behind her too. "You better say." He said calmly, although his Byakugan was already flared up.

"No." Another rejection.

"Fine then." Tenten said and turned to Shino, who was sitting very quietly at his chair. "Mind to tell me what happened?" She asked with faked sweetness as her hand shoved out a dagger out of her waist bag.

The Aburame sat, completely silent. Kiba tugged his shirt childishly, and that's when Shino got really annoyed with him. He turned to Tenten. "They have a bet of asking Hinata-chan out for the dance." He said simply, and remained quiet again.

But Tenten had had not enough. She turned at Kiba and Naruto angrily. "You're making Hinata a bet?" She asked, demandingly. "I need an explanation. Fast." She pulled out her sharpest, newest, smallest fuuma shuriken and spread the blades out at them threateningly.

Naruto grinned. It wasn't so bad. He turned to Kiba, "Hey, Kiba! Maybe we should ask her who should go with Hinata!" Kiba frowned but nodded anyways as Neji stiffened up. He had softened up to Hinata, and somehow had grown a little protective of her - it was his job as the branch family too.

"... So what happened?" Tenten demanded impatiently.

"We made a bet, you see." Kiba started, "If I asked Hinata-chan out and she accepted, Naruto'll buy me ten bowls of ramen of my choice... vice versa." He shrugged, not liking the idea to explain it to Tenten.

"Ten bowls?" The weapon kunoichi's eyes widened. "You can eat that much?"

"... Tenten, that's beside the point." Neji reminded behind her, and she slapped her forehead lightly. "Oh, right. So what happened after that? Which of you win?"

"None of us." Naruto interrupted, "Kiba used a cheating method on me! He asked Shino to fly bees at me, and the bees get me held up! He stopped me before I even asked Hinata!"

"But you met Hinata before we had the agreement time started." Kiba protested, "You were cheating too!" He turned to Tenten, "So, Tenten, who do you say?"

Tenten whirled around and turned her back at them, thinking. Hinata would like it if Naruto asked her, and Tenten liked to see her happy. Hinata was often too shy, and this was a great opportunity to draw her closer to her crush. But if Kiba likes Hinata too, then that makes it complicated. She eyed the Inu shinobi closely and suddenly jabbed her index finger at his chest. "Do you like her, Kiba?"

"Like her?" Kiba repeated, "Like her like what?"

"You know what she means." Shino said suddenly and turned to Tenten, "If it helps, no, he doesn't. He just wants the ramen."

"That settles it." Tenten grinned in satisfaction. "Well then, Naruto. Ask her, and if you hurt her, you know what will happen to you, right?" She swung her fuuma shuriken cleverly around Naruto and grinned evilly at him. The kyuubi boy shrugged but he smiled gratefully, "Thank you! Ten bowls for me, Kiba!"

"No." Neji interrupted this time, "Hinata-sama's not for bets."

"He's right." Tenten jumped in, "Come on, Naruto. You got a date, what other?"

"Okay." The blonde agreed easily. Tenten raised her eyebrows, she didn't think that she could persuade him that easily. Naruto was known for his stubbornness and stupidity, after all. Tenten grinned as she noticed a slight blush on the boy's face.

Hinata really could hope.

_That was another one down, apart from Sakura._

After Neji and Tenten had their lunch in Ichiraku, they walked to a park, and sat on a bench near where some children were playing.

"Here." Neji suddenly handed her the pack where the double-bladed kunai laid. Tenten looked a little confused. "What?" She asked, staring at the pack.

"This is yours." He said simply, and she gazed at him questionably. "But you bought it for yourself, Neji, and..."

"This is yours." Neji repeated plainly, and Tenten gave in. She took the pack off Neji's hand and gave him a shy smile. "Thank you."

He kept silent, as the usual Neji will be.

Tenten gulped, "Neji..." She started. It had been the third time she tried to bring up the subject, and this time, she really should bring it up. Really. If not, she will not do it forever - she can practically feel it within her lungs.

He looked up at her. "Yes?"

Neji was being more than talkative for his usual measurements today, Tenten thought. She took a deep breath, "Do you know about the jounin dance next week? The one mentioned by The Fifth?"

"She hosts it." He said simply. "Lee has asked you, hasn't he?"

Tenten recalled the moment some days ago. Lee had asked her, but it was only for a joke. "He's only kidding." She shrugged, "What I want to know is..." She stopped herself, "Are you going?"

Neji remained thoughtful. After a moment, he said, "No."

"Why?" Tenten couldn't stop her voice from sounding pathetic and a little hopeless.

"I want to train." was his reply.

Tenten let out a sigh. "You could train later..." She suggested helplessly. Hearing him rejecting the invitation from The Fifth had already killed her hopes. She eyed him anxiously. "Please?"

"No." He frowned. "You could go with Lee, Tenten."

_So he knows I'm looking for somebody to go with!_ she thought, although desperately. "Please?" She added again with puppy-eyes this time. She knew that Neji was somehow weak to her pleading puppy-eyes look, and she will use the advantages when she has to.

Neji refused, "No way."

"I'll get Lee out of the training grounds for an hour?" She offered quietly.

"Still no." He smirked. "You could do better."

Tenten remained thoughtful. "Well... I'll get Lee and Gai-sensei away for two hours?" She offered again.

Neji smirked. "No."

She began to think clearly this time. What will Neji really like? Anything she could help him with? An idea popped in her mind, and she smiled at him. "How about... I'll get Lee and Gai-sensei away for a whole day, so that you could train freely in the training grounds?"

He looked thoughtful. "Better." He said. "But, no."

Tenten furrowed her eyebrows. What does he want? And then she caught the glimpse in his eyes and noticed that he was practically teasing her with her eyes. "Neji!" She protested, and he let out a laugh. Tenten glared at him, "I can't think of anything else." She said at last, "Except... I'll buy you some meditation books!" This was her last weapon, and if he still refuses, then she was dead.

"No." Neji said, breaking her hopes into pieces.

Tenten frowned.

He smirked and pulled her closer. "How about..." He whispered closely to her ears, "You keep Lee and Gai-sensei away, buy me some meditation books, and train _with_ me in the grounds after the dance? It's not fun training alone."

"Fun?" Tenten asked. "You know fun?"

He smirked with a look that means, "Of course I do, because I am Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Neji knows everything."

She smiled gratefully. His offer was even better than all of her offers! "Of course I will!"

"Say..." He stated and she looked at him expectantly. "I'm still not your partner."

She smiled a cheeky smile. She was not going to let him be free with that! "Surely you didn't think that I care about that?" She asked wickedly and leaned closer to him, "What are you hoping for, Hyuuga Neji?"

He smirked. "Just you see."

--

Not a long one either… but yeah, please forgive me.

Reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: … Apply standards.**

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**Part Four: The Dance**

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"So... you backed out?" Ino asked suspiciously, and Tenten nodded lightly. "Told you," She rolled her eyes, "It is useless to get Neji to ask you, but..." She smiled, remembering the double-bladed kunai slipped between her obi.

"But what?" Ino demanded, tying her hair into buns miserably. Tenten smiled and rushed over to help her, "Nothing, Ino. Do you get Shikamaru on?"

"Not really." Ino shrugged, "He said it is way too troublesome, and I think it is troublesome arguing with him either. I have been hanging out with Shikamaru too much..."

"You sure do." Tenten agreed. She checked on her reflection once more and smiled in satisfaction. Sure, she was only wearing a simple light blue kimono with white lilies trailed on it and a navy blue obi to match the kimono up. Her hair was as usual tied in two buns, but Sakura had managed to slip in a lily-shaped hairclip on each of her buns.

She gazed around Ino's room. The girls were busily preparing for their dance. Sakura was tightening her red obi hopelessly around her waist, and Hinata was helping her. Ino was now applying make-up - which Tenten had managed to skip.

Ino was wearing her orange kimono with green leaves seamed on it, her yellow obi wrapped tightly around her waist. She had managed to slip a shuriken between her obi, and only one shuriken. Her obi was too soft that it may rips if she put anything heavier than a shuriken. Besides, what can happen in a dance where ALL jounins were invited? There's the Hokage, for heaven's sake! And Jiraiya-sama's probably there, too!

Hinata rolled up the sleeve of her light green kimono as she tried to tighten her obi too. She was too thin, and she needed someone else to help her wrapped that dark green obi so that it won't fail her waist. Tenten quickly rushed to the rescue, since she was the only one available to help - as in ready to go.

At the end, it was only Hinata and Sakura who managed to win the bet. _Sasuke must be the most romantic boy here_, Tenten thought desperately, but she comforted herself. After all, she did convinced Neji to come, didn't she?

"Let's get going." She said to her friends. Hinata was ready too, but Ino and Sakura were still busy fixing their kimonos, even though they did not look wrinkled to Tenten's eyes. "Let's get going," She repeated louder, and the girls sped up their reparations.

Soon after that, the four of them flashed quickly to the hall, where the dance was located. When they arrived, the hall was already filled with many jounins. The walls were covered with soft white curtains, and the light was being darkened, making it romantic.

Tenten gazed around the room. She saw Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei talking happily at one corner of the hall, Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama busily arguing near the stage, Kakashi-sensei reading 'Come Come Paradise', Gai-sensei and Lee talking about taijutsus near them, Shikamaru yawning as he heard Chouji speaking, Naruto waved at them and pranced to Hinata, and finally, she spotted Hyuuga Neji.

He was standing with Uchiha Sasuke, talking quietly about something that normal people wouldn't understand. They were leaning against the wall, their faces serious. They were wearing formal clothes, Neji's dark blue while Sasuke's black. Sakura nudged her with her elbow. "He looked so gorgeous!" She whispered to her happily.

"He? Which he?" Tenten asked, even though she knew Sakura was talking about Sasuke. Who else could it be?

"Ooh, Neji looks gorgeous too!" Sakura praised. Ino grinned at them, and said, "Well, I'll leave you to your dates, then. I'll be going to Shikamaru."

"You really don't need to go." A lazy voice said from behind her. It was none other than Nara Shikamaru, "This is really troublesome."

"Don't complain." Ino snapped, faking her anger. Then she smiled evilly, "But since you come, let's dance, Shikamaru!"

"No."

"Come on!" She said, pulling him to the dance floor, and the boy argued no more. Tenten exchanged glances with Sakura, and the emerald-eyes kunoichi smiled at her, "Let's go!"

"Umm," Tenten started to feel nervous suddenly, "I think I'll stay here. I better fade away!" She practically wailed nervously and walked away from Sakura, to the exit. Sakura grabbed her arm and pulled her. That's when Tenten got a little hysterical.

"No, Sakura." She wailed out of nothing, "No." She was really not ready to meet him. She couldn't even remember that she was the one asking him. She couldn't recall that she was very happy when at last he was convinced. Now, without any reason, she freaked out.

Sakura gasped as she strengthened her grip on Tenten's arm, while the weapon kunoichi struggled. "Tenten," She whispered loudly, "What is it?" She loosened her grip and Tenten frowned. "Thank you." She said sarcastically, "I'm going home, Sakura."

"What? Why?" She asked in alarm.

"Because," Tenten replied, "I see no point going here."

"Tenten!" Sakura said loudly, "Come on, don't get so hysterical. You're just meeting with Neji!"

"I know." The weapon kunoichi frowned, "But no. Good bye, Sakura, have a nice night."

Sakura frowned at her when she realized Tenten was really walking away from her. She caught up with her again and grabbed her arm. "No point being childish." She told her, acting like a real lady, "Come on. No backing up." She then thought of something that will make Tenten furious. Furious was always better than freaking out. "Are you afraid of Neji, Tenten?"

"No, I'm not." She immediately responded to her bait.

"Then let's go." Sakura assured, closing her eyes, feeling a little fed up with her own stupid words, "Tell the world that you're not afraid of him! Tell him!" She was practically exaggerating, but... whatever. She closed her eyes, half-hoping that the weapon kunoichi will fall for the dare.

When she opened her eyes, Tenten was already gone.

Sakura opened her mouth in realization when she realized that Neji was the one that made Tenten 'vanished'. His tall figure covered her also-tall figure (which reminds us, Neji is taller than Tenten) from Sakura's sight. "Tenten!" She called, and Tenten waved her hand behind Neji. "Have a good time, Sakura!" She called out.

"Hey!" Sakura cried, suddenly feeling lost. Tenten was gone with Neji, and she couldn't spot her Uchiha around. She was so, so, so alone...

Until a hand grasped her hand.

"Sasuke-kun!"

--

"You said it was too troublesome." Ino pouted as she danced in Shikamaru's arms. The shadow boy grinned and smirked, "Well, it was." He admitted, "But Chouji dropped by my house and dragged me that I have no way to escape."

"But you come..." Ino continued softly. "I was thinking that you will not come... you know." She shrugged and gave him a smile, "Did you still think that it was troublesome?"

"Before meeting you, yes." He admitted again, "But I see that now you really dress up. And what will happen if I'm not here?"

"I'll go to some other boys, of course." Ino said happily, as if it was no big deal, "Do you think I will spend this beautiful night alone? Of course not!"

Shikamaru snorted as he shifted his hand to Ino's waist. "That's what I thought." He said grimly, "That's why I come." He was faking a sad tone that Ino misheard as a real sadness that she immediately felt sorry for him. "No, no, no, Shikamaru, I was just kidding!" She said cheerfully, "I will not go to other boys."

"Sure?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrows.

"Of course!" Ino grinned reassuringly.

He snorted again, but Ino had understood his snorting that she knew that this one meant, "That's good." or "I'm satisfied." or "It's troublesome, but thank you." Since he could be thinking any of them, she shrugged. Any of them was positive, anyway.

"But why do you really come?" She asked finally, "It couldn't be only Chouji. You could refuse him as easy as you say 'Hello'."

Shikamaru smirked. "Know what?" He asked.

"What?" She stated, playing along.

"I know everything."

Ino furrowed her eyebrows. "Everything?" She repeated in confusion, "What everything?"

"Oh, don't play dumb on me." The shadow boy said, "It's troublesome, your bet. And why am I involved in this too, Ino? And why are you and I paired up in this bet?"

_The bet!_ Ino's eyes widened. She backed out of his arms suddenly. "You know?" She hissed.

He smiled approvingly and took her waist in his arms again. "Of course I do."

"... Oh." Ino said, not knowing what to say other than a simple "Oh."

"And you owe me an apology, miss." He said, smirking, "I don't like being in bets..."

"Sorry." She had cut him out.

"... but apparently," he continued, "I happened to like whatever has something to do with you." His eyes gleamed. "It's still troublesome, though," He added quickly.

Ino blushed. "Do you really mean that?"

"..." He smirked secretively. "Find out yourself."

--

"What did I just see?" Neji asked Tenten, releasing his grip from her hand. It left red marks there, and Tenten frowned unhappily. "How did I know what you just see?" She shot back.

He smirked, "You're not going to run away from me, aren't you?"

"Of course not!" Tenten groaned. "I was just a bit hysterical, that's all."

"Hysterical?" He noted with a quizzical look on his eyes that made Tenten thinking that she had to answer his not-so-good question. She waved her hand, "It's none of your concern, Neji." She said harshly.

He smirked and stepped closer to her. She moved backwards, a bit afraid of his unusual actions. "Really?" He mouthed, close to her ears.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tenten asked, pushing him away. "Don't play with me, Neji. I'm not a kid anymore."

"You're not." Neji agreed, "Then can we just get this settled like real adults?"

"I'm only seventeen and you called that an adult?" Tenten shot back.

Neji shrugged, "They call it sweet seventeen for a girl." He said quietly, explaining it like explaining that two plus two is four. "So I assume you could act like an adult now, Tenten."

"Why are we arguing over this?" Tenten asked, frowning unhappily. "Okay, okay. Just put everything aside, okay?" She gave him a sugary sweet smile, "You complied, Neji. You really come."

"Of course." He said, "I've promised you." He gave her a look that means, "Hyuuga Neji never breaks his promise to anybody."

She grinned, "Now that you come, let's have a drink... have a talk... do other things..." She shrugged, shushing away the thought that said 'let's do what couples do' from her head.

Neji smirked. "Wait here." He told her, and a minute after that he returned, bringing two cups of drink. It was a cocktail with drops of wine, and it tasted heavenly. "Thanks." Tenten said as she received the cup. She drank it, filling her thirst and put the cup down on the table.

"..." They were both silent, but they were also enjoying the comfortable silence between them. It felt like nothing was better than being silent, gazing at each other and just listening to the disco music around them. That was when Naruto and Hinata decided to join them.

"He-hello, Neji-niisan..." Hinata greeted her cousin, her cheeks flushed. Naruto was holding her hand, Tenten noticed, and that was what made the Hyuuga girl blushing furiously. "Greetings, Hinata-sama." Neji replied, keeping the politeness required from the branch family to the head. He fixed his gaze to Naruto, and he smirked at him.

"Neji!" Naruto said energetically, "Coupling with Tenten, I see! Like yesterday at the Ichiraku! You are such adorable couple!"

Tenten furrowed her eyebrows, half-waiting Neji to protest. She wasn't going to argue with the kyuubi boy, it would be far too -in Shikamaru's vocabulary- troublesome. Hinata also stood there, expecting to hear some words of refusal from her cousin's lips, but instead what came out of it was, "Really?"

Tenten's eyes widened, and Hinata nearly choked.

"Yes, really!" Naruto said, not absorbing the immediate awkwardness between the girls, "You two make cute couplings! Maybe when you get married one day, you'll have cuter babies than hell!"

Neji smirked. "Hope you and Hinata too." He said, not giving any refusal out. Hinata blushed at his sentence, while Tenten only widened her eyes more. Neji was acting so strangely that she couldn't stop herself from reaching out his forehead and checking his temperature.

"Neji, are you alright?" She asked, a little concern, "You didn't sound so well." She was going to say that he didn't look so well, but how can she say that when all she saw was not a not-too-well but a very annoyingly charming Hyuuga Neji?

"You look more like a couple!" Naruto declared stubbornly, "Ah, are you two going out? I know there's no special announcement or whatsoever, but what the hell! You didn't have to make announcements when you're going out!"

"You're right." Neji agreed.

Still no refusal.

Tenten frowned. Something is definitely wrong with Neji. "Neji, really. What has gotten into you?" She asked, hoping he will give her a direct answer. He didn't. Instead, he only smirked and annoyed Tenten a little bit.

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently, "Are you going out then?"

It was a direct question that needed a direct answer, and Tenten happened to be speechless. Only, Neji wasn't. He smiled at Naruto, "Maybe." and wrapped his arm around Tenten's shoulder, making her even more speechless. Too speechless to realize, maybe.

"Na-Naruto-kun, let's get going..." Hinata whispered shyly, knowing that Tenten was near to freaking out and throwing kunais everywhere. She tugged Naruto's shirt and quickly pulled him away with her. Tenten smiled in gratitude. _Thank you, Hinata_, she prayed silently.

"Neji, that's really not the way to play with Naruto!" She said to Neji afterwards, "He'll probably gossip anywhere, and your reputation is the bet!"

"I don't care." He simply replied.

"But..." She tried to argue, but he put a finger on her lips and silenced her with a quick peck on her forehead. She blushed slightly. "Neji! What the hell is wrong with you?" She snapped as she blushed furiously. She turned away and began to walk from him, leaving him smirking behind. He caught up with her and whispered to her ear, "Always be ready for consequences, Tenten... since you're dealing with me."

Tenten glared at him. "What consequences?" She asked, "I've done nothing!"

_Oh, you have_, Neji thought. If she thinks that he didn't know a thing about the bet that's going on with the girls, then she was terribly wrong. He knew that they held a bet; he knew that his name was somehow mentioned inside the bet discussion. He just happened to know - and not only him. Also Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Naruto.

Only... they have a way of showing that they know.

And he had _his_.

How did they know, you ask? And they will only give you one sentence: "I just know."

Tenten glared at Neji again. "I have done nothing!" She repeated, "And you're wrong if you think you can punish me!" She practically hissed at him, and then she stormed away.

Oh, and Neji happened to know one last thing clearer than the others.

He knew that Tenten had lose the bet miserably...

... but he happened to miss that she had win something else more important (perhaps).

Hyuuga Neji's heart.

**End**

--

Weird ending? Seems unfinished? Yep, I know. I'm writing a sequel to this one - probably'll be posted in a couple or days or so... So if you are interested in reading the real ending, just check every once in a while!

So... Reviews are accepted, as usual. Constructive criticism are waited...

Thanks!

--

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**MyFallenAngel**


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